Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke out on the company’s dispute with the FBI at a media event where Apple is expected to announce a smaller iPhone.
“We need to decide as a nation how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy,” Cook said during his opening remarks this morning at the event on Apple’s Cupertino, Calif. campus.
“We did not expect to be in this position, at odds with our own government, but we believe strongly that we have a responsibility to help protect your data and your privacy,” he added. “We owe it to our customers and we owe it to our country.”
He concluded, “This is an issue that impacts all of us, and we will not shrink from this responsibility,” getting an extended round of applause from the crowd.
The event gives Cook a high-profile stage to make the company’s case. Apple is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday to argue that it shouldn’t be forced to write software that would let the FBI crack an encrypted iPhone. While it recently gained the support of many of America’s largest tech companies, it still faces criticism for its refusal to help unlock a terrorist’s device.
The event is ongoing, available for streaming here on Apple devices, the Safari browser, or Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
